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The courage of Ukrainians to remain free of Russia and one day join the European Union has inspired many in Europe. It has also stiffened the EU’s spine in defending the principles that bind the 27-country bloc. Ukraine is “fighting for our freedom and our values,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU’s executive arm, last week.

A good example of a newly emboldened EU is a ruling Monday by the European Court of Justice, the bloc’s top legal arbiter. The ECJ decision came down hard on Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party for its attempts since 2015 to undercut the independence of the judiciary and put judges under the thumbs of politicians.

“The value of the rule of law is an integral part of the very identity of the European Union,” the court said. The ruling found that recent Polish laws for disciplining judges and exposing their personal life to public scrutiny violate the EU’s transnational laws.

Independent judges are essential to ensuring equality before the law and to holding government accountable to a constitution. Removing them for political goals diminishes courts as impartial and principled. The EU’s strength as a trading bloc and a fighter against corruption has long rested on member states practicing democratic rule of law. The ruling warns that EU money going to Poland would be compromised if courts are not independent of political influence.

The Poles are clearly still working out their identity as both a democratic nation and an EU member. Polls show most citizens oppose laws curtailing the independence of judges. An estimated half-million people protested in major cities last Sunday against the ruling party. Yet polls also show the Justice and Law party, which largely relies on rural voters, could win an election in October. Like the war in Ukraine, Poland is another battleground for values that define Europe.